Civil Engineer at the University of the West Indies, Dr Don Samuel is questioning whether the newly formed Secondary Road and Rehabilitation Company will have enough materials to fix the nation's roads given that some contractors are now importing bitumen to execute projects.
Dr Samuel, who recently started a public petition titled, “Demand that Any Government of Trinidad and Tobago Urgently Fix Our Roadways and Drainage", called on the government to analyze material availability.
"Given that some contractors have indicated that they are importing bitumen, are there enough asphalt sub-base and base course materials for the repair of these roads? he asked.
He explained that since the closure of the Petrotrin, refinery bitumen is no longer produced.
"Trinidad Lake Asphalt produces its own blend of bitumen. Has the GORTT evaluated the claims by some local contractors that they are importing bitumen to produce asphalt for road paving? How is this supply chain logistics dynamic going to affect the operations of the new company and their ability to fix the roads within a reasonable time before further degradation?" he questioned.
Even though he agreed that T&T's infrastructure must be maintained, Dr Samuel said it appears that the newly formed Secondary Road and Rehabilitation Company will be duplicating the responsibilities of the Ministry of Works and the various regional corporations.
"There are competent administrators, technocrats, engineers and technicians at the Ministry of Works and Regional Corporations, so I query the need to incorporate a new special purpose company with similar resourcing and directive," he pointed out.
Currently, the Ministry of Works (MOWT) is in charge of all major roads, highways and bridges, while Regional Corporations under the Ministry of Local Government maintain secondary roads along with The Programme for Upgrading Roads Efficiency (PURE) Unit, which falls under the MOWT.
But Dr Samuel said the new special purpose company has to operate with transparency.
"I will like the government to explain how the $100 million start-up cost is going to be equitably distributed among the nine regional corporations, two city corporations and three borough corporations," he said.
"Would the prioritization matrix which provides the locations of repairs be published by the Government to assuage the citizenry?" he added.
Dr Samuel is The UWI's Building and Infrastructure Facilities Manager and has managed over 100 civil engineering projects with a total net worth of $400 million. He said project details must be provided to the public.
"We need to make the distinction between repair, resurface and rebuild given the rapidly deteriorating state of the roadways. Given the delay in the proclamation of the Procurement Act, how is this newly registered special purpose company going to ensure transparency and value for money concerning the execution of road rehabilitation and repair contracts?" he asked.
Urging people to sign his petition, Dr Samuel said the reason for the petition is not politically motivated.
"Like many others, I care about this country and I am also fed up with driving on bad roads. This is why I have been urging the Government to address the road repairs now before the roads further deteriorate to an unsafe serviceability state and uneconomical cost of repair," he noted.
Saying there is some opinion that the root cause of some vehicular accidents is due to deteriorating road conditions, Dr Samuel asked: "Have any investigations been completed to the extent which could validate this claim?"
According to the Public Sector Investment Programme in 2021 some $736.2 million was invested in roads and bridges infrastructure throughout T&T. The Road/Construction/Major Road Rehabilitation Programme executed by the PURE unit utilised the sum of $74.9 million for the rehabilitation of several sections of roadways across Trinidad.
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To sign the petition, “Demand that Any Government of Trinidad and Tobago Urgently Fix Our Roadways and Drainage", visit… https://chng.it/HdcvQXBwPk